Al Sharpton: We Are Dealing With the Same Attitudes of Ferguson Right Here

After a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri declined to indict a police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black man, Rev. Al Sharpton said New Yorkers would face the same attitudes in investigations in police-related deaths here.

We are dealing with the same attitudes of Ferguson right here in the city, Mr. Sharpton said.

A Missouri grand jury declined to bring any charges against police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager whom Mr. Wilsonshot to death. Mr. Sharpton watched a prosecutorsannouncement from his National Action Network House of Justice, alongside the family of Eric Garner a Staten Island man who died in July as police tried to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes.

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently urged New Yorkers not toconnect all the dots between Garners death, Browns death, and more recently, the death of Akai Gurley, who police say was accidentally shot and killed by a rookie cop in a housing project stairwell last week.

But Mr. Sharpton is amongseveral voices in New York making that connection.

This is one case, you have another case now with Gurley, Mr. Sharpton said tonight. Ferguson is not just in Missouri, which is why we watched it tonight in the House of Justice. We can lose a round, but the fight is not over.

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson is investigating Gurleys death. But the inquiry into Garners death which came before Browns death in Ferguson is considerably further along. A special grand jury impaneled by Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan is considering the case and will be tasked with deciding whether to bring charges against the officers involved including Daniel Pantaelo, the officer shown on video wrapping his arm around Garners neck to bring him to the ground. Some, including Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, have saidthe move appeared to be a chokehold, which is not illegal but is prohibited by NYPD guidelines.

Garners family his wife and mother joined Mr. Sharpton did not make any remarks. But Mr. Sharpton said the lack of an indictment in Ferguson was a blow to them.

It as expected, but still an absolute blow to those of us that wanted to see a fair and open trial. I think that it is clear that even when you see a blow coming, that you expected, it still hurts, Mr. Sharpton said. Nonetheless, we said from the beginning that we had little or no confidence in this local prosecutor and called for federal intervention.

Mr. Sharpton criticized the remarks ofSt. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch and the grand jury investigation he oversaw. He also noted that Garners family had stood alongside Browns in September calling for the federal Department of Justice to take over both cases from local law enforcement.

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Al Sharpton: We Are Dealing With the Same Attitudes of Ferguson Right Here

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